The case follows a landmark ruling in 2022 which held that a strategic environmental assessment should have been carried out before the plan was drafted.
The hearing, scheduled before a seven-member panel of the court’s Fifth Chamber, brings together challenges from the Piraeus Bar Association, the Municipality of Keratsini–Drapetsona, and more than one hundred local residents.
At the center of the dispute is a Presidential Decree issued in January 2023 that approved the Port of Piraeus Development Program and Management Study, commonly referred to as the master plan. The decree, as well as subsequent permits related to expansion and modernization projects, is being contested on both constitutional and environmental grounds.
This legal battle takes place against the backdrop of two earlier decisions by the Council of State. In 2022, the court’s plenary ruled that a Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment should have preceded the drafting of the master plan. Later that year, the Fifth Chamber reviewed the draft Presidential Decree and found it lawful, though it attached a number of observations.
Now the court must decide whether the environmental study accompanying the contested decree adequately addresses the impact of the port’s expansion, including issues such as traffic congestion, and whether it meets the requirements of European Union Directive 2001/42/EC.
The judges will also weigh claims that the decree runs counter to Article 24 of the Greek Constitution, which safeguards the environment. Critics argue that the plan promotes piecemeal development of the port without an overarching spatial strategy, worsens living conditions in nearby coastal communities, and fails to properly protect the area’s cultural heritage.
Another key issue is whether the consultation process that preceded the decree respected both EU law and the Aarhus Convention on access to environmental information and public participation. The court will also review the 2023 approval of environmental terms for the port works, considering whether the process and accompanying environmental study met legal standards.
